Thermal conditioning installations in buildings have three clearly distinguished functional parts. The first one corresponds to the thermal energy generating equipment, such as boilers, coolers, heat pumps, etc. The second one corresponds to the emitting equipment responsible for yielding or extracting heat from the enclosure to be conditioned, such as fan coils, radiators, condensing and/or evaporating units, radiating panels, among others, and to their connections (air ducts, hydraulic pipes, etc.) with the generating equipment. Finally, the third part involves the control systems responsible for managing all thermal and comfort variables of the installation and for assuring the proper operation of the equipment making up the installation.
The present invention particularly focuses on the part corresponding to the emitting equipment, which is a determining factor for the suitable thermal conditioning of the enclosure (thermal power, efficiency, equipment location and distribution, etc.), in addition to assuring suitable comfort conditions (noise, speed and orientation of air flows, condensations, etc.). More specifically, the present invention focuses on the emitting equipment of the group pertaining to modular panels to be used in ceilings and/or walls. Said modular panels offer many advantages with respect to the remaining emitters, i.e., they are more energy efficient, improve room temperature uniformity in the enclosure, are better integrated into the architectural design, generate less noise, do not take up useful spaces beyond that of the typical enclosing elements of the enclosure, do not have parts where dust or bacteria accumulate and require less maintenance.
The modular panels for being used in ceilings and/or walls and which are currently used in installations for the thermal conditioning of enclosures comprise a sandwich or layered structure in which a hydraulic circuit is integrated in a fixed manner.
Document EP1004827 provides a representative example of the modular panels used today. This document describes a self-supporting, modular, prefabricated panel the structure of which is formed by a plasterboard layer and an insulating material layer integrating a plurality of independent hydraulic circuits arranged in coil form. The pipes forming each of the hydraulic circuits are housed directly in the plaster in a fixed manner in cavities machined therein. The different hydraulic circuits are distributed over the panel, forming different independent areas that can be separated from one another, wherein each of them has on its longitudinal edges an inlet connection and an outlet connection of the circuit. The dimensions of the panel can be modified within a limited number of options, separating with respect thereto a greater or lesser number of the independent areas forming it.
Current panels like the one described above have considerable drawbacks affecting both the panel itself and the thermal surface obtained by means thereof, as well as assembly process for assembling said surface, as can be inferred below.
In terms of the panel itself, it has a modularity limited to practically only three or four different sizes which are generally obtained from a standard, large-sized panel, so it offers very little assembly flexibility. Furthermore, the power output of the panel is limited by the low heat conduction capacity of the plaster. Finally, the integration of the hydraulic circuit makes the panel more expensive, more complex to manufacture and less manageable, and it does not allow access to said circuit for maintenance purposes without previously having to break the panel itself.
In terms of the surface obtained by means of current panels, particularly the drawbacks affecting the proper operation of the installation and the low exploitation of the available surface of the enclosure should be pointed out. In this sense, it is essential to mention the large number of connections to be made during installation both to maintain the continuity of the hydraulic circuits forming one and the same panel and their connection to the circuits of adjacent panels. All this, in addition to the long assembly time it represents results in a considerable increase of the risk of breakdowns, mainly due to the loss of leak-tightness of the circuit due to poorly made connections. The low modularity of the panels furthermore does not allow covering the entire available space of the enclosure, more se when it has intermediate structural elements (columns) or an irregular geometry, so the uniformity in the distribution of the hydraulic circuits is significantly reduced, the resulting thermal distribution being far from the most ideal and the installed thermal power being less than the potential offered by the enclosure. Furthermore, current thermal surfaces are rather inflexible with regard to the frequent expansions of the pipes of the hydraulic circuit because they are completely fixed in the modular panels. This usually causes deformations of the cavities in which they are housed and thereby allows the creation of air pores, further reducing the power output of the installation.
Finally, in terms of the drawbacks of the assembly process, the significant time intended for such assembly should again be pointed out, especially due to making the necessary number of numerous connections as the different hydraulic circuits are not continuous. Furthermore, it is not easy to handle the panels due to their considerable size and weight taking into account that they integrate the hydraulic pipes.
The present invention solves in a fully satisfactory manner the problems set forth above, improving the energy efficiency of current installations, minimizing the occurrence of breakdowns while the installation is operating, maximizing the exploitation of the available surface of the enclosure to be conditioned and facilitating the installation assembly tasks.